Apprentice of Evil v2
by Reilynn
Summary: What if Max had cleaned out Dr Vertes office before she told Logan that she was dead? Personal challenge of Simr, How evil a cliffhanger could I write? Real facts about Portland! Ch 9 up more soon.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

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**Working Title: Apprentice of Evil. **

**Part One. The Divergence. **

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In the televised series Max goes straight to Logan once she finds out that Dr. Vertes has been killed. What if it had occurred to her to clean up Dr. Vertes office before she went to Logan?

* * *

Max left Jace at her crib. She took her motorcycle and large backpack to Dr. Vertes run down clinic. She gathered everything she could; Logan's files; Logan's cash; the vials of immunosuppressant; and anything else she could fit in the backpack.

Logan could tell that Max had bad news by the sad look on her face when she entered the apartment. She joined him on the couch, apologized for things that were not her fault.

"Not the best news I could've gotten," Logan said sadly, with his hand on his head.

"You would've thought Vertes knew Lydecker long enough to figure he can't be trusted."

"You would've thought."

"She's not the only doc around who knows about this treatment." Max tried to cheer Logan up.

"Only one I had access to… At least you're all right."

"I'm sorry, Logan."

"Where's Jace?" asked Logan.

"I stashed her back at my crib."

"I set her up with a new identity. She leaves for Mexico tonight."

"Thanks."

"No problem. On another matter, you should swing by the clinic and yank my medical records. You've got exposure if Lydecker dumps Vertes' files and reads about my transgenic blood donor." Logan said, wanting to be alone.

"Way ahead of you. I got your files, her files, the immunosuppressant, everything. We just need to call Dr. Carr. See how much of this mess he can sort out. Oh, and I got your money back." Max attempted to hand him several bundles of cash. Logan just looked pained. "This is gonna be okay."

* * *

Part Two: That Night 

Dr. Carr came over right after work. Once he got there, he and Max started going over Dr. Vertes' files. To say he was surprised by all that Max had to explain to him was an understatement. However he was exited enough about the regenerative possibilities that he forced himself to focus. He was sitting right beside Max at Logan's dining room table when Max read Dr Vertes psychological profile. She showed him, panic in her eyes. Dr. Carr nodded to her. He went into the bathroom, and Max could hear him call Bling and tell him to get over here because they needed to put Logan on suicide watch. Bling arrived in less than thirty minutes. It was only after Logan was under Bling's watchful eye that Max went to see Jace off.

Max would have been happy and excited that a baby was going to be named after her, if she wasn't so afraid for Logan.

When she entered Dr. Carr was talking to Logan in the computer room.

"It doesn't look like her treatments were working. Your function has continued to deteriorate. I am going to put you on an oral regime for awhile then see what that does to your white cell count. Right now, your body is fighting. Pluripotents regenerated your nerves before, if we can get your immune system under control, maybe they can again."

"But I am going to wind up back in the chair." Logan said grimly.

"You are back in the chair. I wish I could tell you for how long. You have no idea of how much you have thrown at me. I learned more tonight than I learned most of my college courses. I need to do some research." Dr Carr said.

"Be careful with the research. Manticore was a covert government agency. If they think you know anything …" Max didn't have to finish. They had already told him what happened to Dr. Vertes.

Dr. Carr nodded his agreement.

"Logan's already done a lot of research on Manticore. He's good at getting information…unofficially." Max was trying to be encouraging.

"Yeah," Logan nodded. His expression was grim.

"I …I am sorry Logan. This is probably going to get worse before it gets better." Dr. Carr tried to reassure him. He looked at Max, then back to Logan. "Sensation will probably seem mostly intact for a little while, if there was … something you wanted to …" he trailed off, embarrassed.

"No," Logan said abruptly.

"You shouldn't try walking on your own." Dr. Carr finished.

Bling returned with the filed prescription for cyclosporine. After watching Logan grudgingly take two, Bling left saying he would return in the morning. Max made sure he would be there in time for her to get to work. Logan wasn't going to be alone, not anytime soon.

Max was just returning from walking out Bling and Dr Carr. She found Logan staring dejectedly at his computer screen and her heart bled for him. The best man she had ever known. A truly noble, honest, and good man; not only had he been dealt an entirely unjust injury, who did he have to comfort him? He deserved human comfort and all he had was a chimera, who knew squat about comforting someone.

"Hey," Max began.

"Max," Logan was startled.

"How ... Never mind." Max knelt in front of Logan, miserable at her social clumsiness.

"Max, I thought you left…I'm sorry …"

"For what?" Max put her hand on his knee.

"Dr. Carr,"

"I am sure he is doing his best. We dumped a lot on him. He'll get it figured out, but it will take some time." Max began rubbing his legs, looking into his face to see if he could still feel it. She thought so.

"I meant his …comment."

Max looked puzzled. "What comment would you be sorry for?"

"Never mind. I …"

"You mean the 'enjoy it while you can' comment." Max continued to caress is legs, more firmly.

"Yeah."

"Not a bad idea. Is there anything you want? A massage?"

Logan hesitated. Why had she phrased it like that, he thought miserably. He was so torn. He had almost talked himself out of taking advantage of Max's potentially embarrassing offer, when he nodded.

Max smiled. "Let's get you someplace comfortable. Got any lotion? Oil?"

Logan couldn't believe he was doing this. He told her where to find the massage oil and wheeled into his bedroom.

Max was very casual about taking his shoes, socks and pants off. He felt terribly exposed despite the fact he still had his boxers and shirt on.

Logan rolled over on his stomach so he wouldn't have to face Max. He couldn't stand the look of pity that she gave him.

Max didn't know much about massage, but she knew where human pressure points were. She lost track of time as she caressed each leg and foot in turn. Soon Logan had lost track of what was going on as well, and moaned softly as she worked on his legs. It was his moans that were her undoing.

Max rolled him over. He tried to stop her, but his strength was no match for hers.

"No, Max, don't," he protested.

"Why not?" As Max lay her body on top of his she could feel his arousal. She'd wanted him for so long, but how did he feel?

"It's not fair."

"Nothing is fair, Logan."

"Max…" he began, then trailed off, pained.

"Logan, you know I would do anything for you."

There was that word again, anything, Logan thought. Does she really mean _anything_? He decided there was no way she could be lying on top of him and not know what he wanted to do to her, with her, right now. Was he pathetic enough to accept a pity fuck? Did it matter that this was the woman of his dreams and this might be the last chance that he ever had to … have sex? Fuck? Make love? He always did the right thing, but did he have the strength to refuse this? Where was the harm? Didn't he deserve a little happiness?

Max took his silence as consent and removed his shirt. She could feel her body becoming ready for his as he moaned at her touch. He gasped as her hands ran over his nipples. Her hands reached for his boxers. His hands covered hers, stopping her. Logan took a deep ragged breath then nodded and released her hands. She removed his boxers and touched him everywhere. With her hands and her mouth she tried to show him what she did not have words to say.

"Max!"

"Logan. What do you want?"

He wanted to make love to her. He wanted her to be doing this because she loved him, not because it was the last chance he was ever going to have and she felt sorry for him. This was possibly the last night he would ever have, and he wanted to give it to her. "You." He tugged at her clothes and she slipped out of them quickly. He touched her and it was more than he had ever imagined.

"Logan, tell me what you want me to do?"

"I just want to pretend for awhile, for tonight. For tonight, just …love me."

Outside, Max nodded, smiled, and took Logan inside of her. Inside, she wondered if he was pretending she was someone else in particular or just a normal human woman. She wondered briefly what was wrong with her that she accepted this? But, then she knew why. Regardless of what he felt for her, she loved him, and this might be her only chance to make love to him. Or at least pretend that this was making love, instead of just sex. Yes, that was it, the two of them could pretend.

They spent the night in passion, Max determined to do everything in her considerable stamina to ensure that Logan felt enough pleasure to last him until he was healed again. Sadly, neither wanted to break the fantasy, so neither actually said anything beyond the other's name, a few endearments, and some exclamations of pleasure.

When the dawn finally came Logan knew it was over. Even if he were fully healed, he had already lasted longer than he would have believed possible. He stopped Max, held her in his arms, and wept. Max comforted him the best she could, holding him, stroking his hair.

"It'll be OK, Logan. We'll get this figured out. You'll be walking again before you know it. This will be OK."

"I can't believe… what you'll do for me."

Max thought he was talking about putting up with Dr. Vertes, perhaps because it was the only thing that Max thought of as a sacrifice. It never even occurred to her that he was talking about what they had shared that night, the best night she'd ever had, the high point of her life. The only time she had ever felt loved, even if it **was** pretend. She smiled, "Silly, I will do anything for you. Don't you pay attention?"

They might have talked to each other then, honestly and bluntly told the other what needed to be said, and heard, except Bling arrived to watch over Logan for the day. Max dashed to the bathroom. Logan sighed and got up.

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Part Three: The Next Day 

Max dressed more quickly than either Logan or Bling could possibly have expected. She was going to join them in the computer room and let them know she was leaving for work, when she overheard part of their conversation.

"So, how are you doing this morning? You seemed pretty down last night." Bling asked.

"I reached a new low … after you left." Logan said.

'A new low?' Max thought. She supposed she could see how sleeping with something whipped up in a lab might qualify, but she never thought she would have heard that from Logan. She couldn't face him. She left quickly and quietly.

"You get enough sleep?" asked Bling.

"I didn't sleep at all, Bling."

Max shut the door behind her and dashed down the stairs so that she heard no more of the conversation.

"You probably should now then, but I am not seeing why you're so upset."

Logan let out a deep breath and tried to explain. "I'd just never had a pity fuck before. Funny part is that it was the best night of my life." He wheeled back to bed before Bling could point out that whatever Max felt for him, it sure didn't seem like pity.

Max's iron will and self discipline severed her well during the next day. She kept busy so she wouldn't have to interact with her friends, which kept Normal happy. If any of her friends noticed anything wrong with her they didn't have the opportunity to say anything about it.

It wasn't until she got home that she sobbed in the shower, for Logan, for herself, and for everything a freak like her could never have.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

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**Working Title: Apprentice of Evil v. 2**

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**Part Four: Equilibrium**

Max heard her pager going off from in the shower. She didn't have to look. She knew who it was. She didn't want to go over there, and yet she did. She didn't know how they were going to resolve this mess, yet if she wanted to keep her best friend, she had to try. She got out of the shower, dried off, dressed, ignored the twisting sensation that had been coming from her stomach all day, and went to try to salvage the best thing that ever happened to her.

When Max stepped out the elevator she could smell dinner. She couldn't identify exactly what it was, but it smelled good. Her stomach gurgled, reminding her she had skipped out on breakfast and worked through lunch. She stood staring at Logan's front door for some time before she knocked.

Logan answered the door, "Max?"

"You paged?"

"Yeah, come on in." Logan rolled out of her way and motioned for her to come it. "You ran off without… breakfast this morning." Logan cringed at the way that came out.

"Yeah, well… I wasn't hungry; I was late… for work."

"Still, I owe you …" Logan's voice trailed off. He owed her more than he would ever be able to repay, especially as long as he was stuck in the chair.

Max noticed Logan's discomfort and tried to relieve it the only way that she could think of. "Logan, we both know there wasn't anything ... normal about …what happened. You don't owe me anything."

"I do."

"No, you don't."

"Max, I owe you an apology. I was… It wasn't fair…" Logan grimaced, what could he say to make this better? "I am sorry…"

Max almost called him on what the heck he was sorry for; he seemed like he was enjoying it last night. But she couldn't bring herself to add to the pain he was obviously already in, for so many different reasons. Finally she said the only thing she could think of. "I know. You were real emotional."

Logan finally smiled, remembering this conversation from before; he gratefully accepted the forgiveness that she seemed to be offering to him. He would make all this up to her when he got his legs back again.

"It's not …" he said, playing along.

"Me, neither." Max smiled. She was grateful for a way out; a way back to a smile from Logan.

"I mean …" Logan gave her a broad smile. He was surprised this conversation was still so clear in his mind. She obviously recalled it as well. Had it meant anything to her? Or did X5's just have memories that good?

"Exactly."

"So long as that's clear."

"I'm glad we talked about it."

"Me, too….So would you like some roasted salmon, bruschetta, tomato salad, and a pre-pulse Riesling?" Logan smiled at Max, grateful to have been forgiven.

"MMMm, you had me at salmon." Max gave Logan one of her million watt smiles. She was grateful to have been forgiven.

Whether by mutual misunderstanding, or unspoken agreement, they never say the words that would convey their true feelings to the other. They continue, each loving the other, each feeling unworthy of love in return. So it is that once again two souls that are so very much alike, are each thinking nearly exactly the same thing, and yet are both so very wrong, for exactly the same reason.

Logan ignores, or simply doesn't see, the longing in Max's eyes whenever she looks to him. Max ignores the churning in her stomach that subsides when Logan is happy, but never completely goes away.

**Part Five: Haven**

Max let herself into Logan's apartment. He was at his computer, talking to some informant. Max waited patiently until he was off the phone. In truth, she didn't mind. Saving the world was a big part of who he was, one of the things that made him so admirable. Even after everything he had been through, he was still looking out for others. Well, Max hoped that others were ready to look out for themselves for a few days, because he was going to be spending time with her. He ended the call. The downtrodden were done; he's hers for a few days. Max knew she had a huge grin, but didn't care. "Hey!"

"Hey." Logan looked Max up and down, noting the gas can and luggage. "Where're you going?" Logan asked.

"We, remember?" Max walked over and set the gas can and luggage in a corner. Apparently Logan was so wrapped up in his work that he had forgotten all about their plans. "The dizzying heights…fresh country air…hiking in the Cascades? We talked about it last week!" He had forgotten about her, again.

"You might've noticed there've been some changes since then." How could she have forgotten he was back in the chair? He couldn't do any of those things anymore. She must have noticed; she couldn't really think that it didn't matter? He couldn't face that. Logan turned to wheel away. "Unless you're planning to roll me off of Mount Rainier, you might want to reconsider."

"What?" This wasn't about her. It was about him feeling sorry for himself. Dammit, Bling said he wasn't dangerously depressed any more. Still, she couldn't let him go on thinking that the chair was going to matter, not to her. "You're back in the chair so you can't have a life anymore?" How could she get through to him?

Logan couldn't face her. He couldn't… do a hell of a lot with her and that was his real problem now, wasn't it? He dropped a file of papers onto a desk already stacked high with hundreds of files just like it. "No, but I can't exactly scale mountains, now, can I?"

He was feeling sorry for himself again. How could she let him know that the chair wasn't going to get in the way?

"Forget about the dizzying heights," Max said, thinking, 'Chair or not Logan there is so much in life for you to enjoy.'

"What about the country air?" Max said. 'What about me?' she thought, but didn't dare say.

"Campfires…" Max tried again. She wasn't getting through to him.

"S'mores," Max said. Inside she was becoming angry at herself, at her inability to help the one person who had come to mean more to her than any other.

Logan removed the earpiece and threw it on the table with the rest of the clutter. "I got work to do," he said dismissively, without even turning around to look at her.

Of course that feeling is obviously one sided, Max thought bitterly, but what could I really expect. "And I spent the entire morning waiting in line for gas!" she said angrily. She wasn't helping; she didn't know how to help. She turned and was going to storm out, leaving her luggage there so she would have an excuse to come back later, when she heard Logan call out to her

"You can't get out of the city anyway. Not without…" Logan followed her, and then stopped short.

It was the smallest of gestures on his part, but Max had already resigned herself to taking whatever she could get. She wanted to be with him and he needed a break from work. If there was any way to save this trip, she would take advantage of it. She held the passes out in front of him with a determined look on her face.

"…sector passes." He reached for them, but she pulled them away.

"Class One, VIP, no-questions-asked sector passes. I had to hang upside-down outside the window for an hour to swipe these from police headquarters. I almost horked, I got so nauseous, and I hate horking. You're not bailing on me." If that didn't convince Logan how much he mattered to her, then nothing she could think of would. Which wouldn't surprise her in the least, she thought.

Logan finally smiled. "Who said anything about bailing?"

So naturally the entire trip was a disaster. They fought. Her body betrayed her again, and she let him down. They bickered. She left the noble lefty humanist alone to kill the bad guys. Not that she had been able to protect him even before the seizures got bad. The pain in his eyes when she woke up tore at unfamiliar places inside her.

Again Logan was hurt, and again she didn't know how to help him. She tried kidding and got no answer, just a heartbreaking stare. She tried asking how he was and his voice was shaky and hoarse when he answered. She could feel his pain but not lessen it. She tried to let him know that it was OK, she understood, but her words sound lame, even to her. They rode back to Seattle side by side in the cab of a tow truck. Max knew that close quarters left him no choice but to sit next to her, but she still took comfort in his warmth.

The trip was a complete disaster. The only thing she would have to be thankful for later was that, at the time, it didn't occur to either one of them that something else could be going on inside her body.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

**A/N: **In case you hadn't noticed I have a thread over on DA Reflections where I do answer any questions I get in reviews, especially if I don't have any other way of communicating withthe reviewer (Hi Bob!).

**Working Title: Apprentice of Evil v2.0 **

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**Part Six: Denial**

Max knew that something was wrong. There was an incessant churning in her stomach and a dull ache at the back of her skull. It felt like she was always on edge. When she was with Logan, and Logan seemed happy, the feelings subsided but never completely. She wished she knew more about what her freak show body was really capable of. She wished there were someone she could ask about intuition without sounding like a nut. The end result was that she spent the vast majority of her time hovering over Logan, much to the misconception of her friends.

It was the sleeping that she noticed first. A couple of days after they returned from Haven she fell asleep on Logan's sofa waiting for him to finish doing something on the computer. She woke briefly when he was covering her with a blanket, an amused smile on his handsome face.

"You know, you're always welcome to use the guest room," he said as he laid the blanket over her.

"I know," Max replied and drifted back off to sleep. Logan brushed her hair back out of her face and tucked the blanket in under her chin. Max woke two hours later very disoriented. That should have been her first big clue, but she blamed it on the wine and dismissed it. Although she did stop drinking anything alcoholic after that, so perhaps part of her did know.

She started sleeping an hour or two every night after that. Fortunately Logan didn't know her physiology well enough to know how unusual that was for her.

* * *

She almost met Original Cindy's on again, off again girlfriend, Diamond. Original Cindy mentioned that she was staying at their crib one morning at work, but Logan was all wrapped up in something about stolen nuclear warheads so she had been spending all her time watching over him. Original Cindy invited her to see Diamond sing a Guru's, but Max declined. She had to knock over a safe for a friend, even though she made up a different excuse for Original Cindy. The gang at Jam Pony assumed that she was blowing them off to hang with her rich boyfriend again, and most of them were happy for her. 

The Pierpont Lemkin safe job went off without a hitch. Max grabbed the disks, and about $65,000 in cash that Logan didn't want to know about.

The next day at work a tearful Original Cindy informed her that Diamond had been grabbed by bounty hunters on the way home from Guru's. Apparently Diamond had lied to her about being out on patrol. Max could only offer a sympathetic shoulder to cry on.

"At least you and roller boy seem to be workin' out," Original Cindy said.

"Yeah," was all Max could think to say as she tried to smile.

* * *

It was the morning her pants were tight that she seriously started thinking. She tried denial for a few hours, but it didn't last. Toward the end of her shift she picked up a home pregnancy test. She tested positive in the bathroom of a coffee shop and threw the whole kit in their trash. The test was designed for humans, would it even work on an X5? Max was in an even darker mood afterwards than before she arrived at work, and that was saying quite a bit. 

Original Cindy knew that she didn't sleep, so she'd gotten in the habit of actually sleeping either at Logan's after he had gone to bed, or in the café on top of the space needle. She still only slept an hour or two a night, but she was sleeping every night now. Something was going on, that much was undeniable.

She'd always loved the top of the space needle. She had to jump a 14 ft fence to get to it, and then another 12 ft leap to the top because they had cut out a portion of the stairs. That wasn't a problem for her and did significantly keep the company down, which was a good thing right now.

It was on the top of her space needle that she always did her deep thinking. She hadn't been in heat; she should not have been able to conceive, right? What did she know about her biology anyway? She'd just assumed that since she went in to heat like a bitch she would only be able to conceive if she were in heat, like a bitch. Apparently she wasn't **that** much of a bitch. She'd never had normal periods, like the one well-meaning lady had tried to convince her she was going to. Manticore probably thought the blood loss would be unnecessary. Then again, who knew how much of her was by design and how much was just someone's screw up?

Really she already knew before she broke into the women's clinic to run the test, but she did it anyway. She didn't have any experience working an ultrasound machine, but there wasn't much she couldn't figure out. A few minutes of trial and error and she had images up on the screen. If she had known more about conducting ultrasounds she would have been more thorough, but as it was she froze when she saw the first fetus. That was definitely a head. She couldn't deny it any longer. She had Logan's child, and absolutely no idea what she was going to do about it.

* * *

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

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**Working Title: Apprentice of Evil.**

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**Part Seven: 493**

Max didn't know what to do. She was still quite physically capable, but definitely showing, IF you knew her. She needed to get out of Seattle; she wasn't up to dodging Lydecker and crew. Plus, for the first time it felt like she really had something to lose if they killed her.

She couldn't even go see Logan again; he would definitely notice.

She didn't know how to contact any of her sibs. She couldn't ask Original Cindy to go on the lamb with her; she wasn't built to survive it. She didn't know anyone else she could trust. She spent an inordinate amount of time crying on top of the Space Needle. Logan had been paging her, but he wouldn't tell her what was wrong over the phone, and she couldn't go over there for the reason that would be obvious if he saw her. She packed her things while Original Cindy was asleep, and left. She climbed to the top of the space needle for what she planned to be the last time and tossed her pager off. She had been sitting on there for hours, trying to figure out where to go.

She could go up to Canada. That was the quickest, easiest, way out of the country. She knew who Logan used to get the papers. Cash wasn't one of her problems right now. She could get papers from the same guy with no questions asked; at least, not asked until after she was long gone. She could easily tolerate the cold in some of the remotest regions, but would her child be able to?

She could go down to Mexico. It had been a while since she had spoken Spanish, but X5s don't forget. She could probably pass as a native there. Maybe even find Jace.

The only trouble was that she didn't _want_ to go. Seattle was home, and Logan was here. She just sat there trying to think of some way to stay with Logan. But the only way she could think of involved an unacceptable sacrifice. She wanted the baby, Logan's baby. She knew very well she would never have another chance, to carry his child, to have someone that was at least partially like her. To Max, her child represented her only hope of having someone who would really love her.

Max knew she loved Logan, she could admit that now. But she also knew he didn't love her. How could he? How could a beautiful, intelligent, noble man like Logan love something cooked up in a test tube? But the baby wouldn't know any better. Maybe for the first time in her whole life she could love someone with her whole heart and be loved in return.

She tried to imagine his reaction if she told him about their child. He'd probably propose, or ask her to move in with him. For the baby's sake, because he felt responsible for knocking her up in the first place. She didn't want that. She wanted him to be happy, find a normal girlfriend who he could fall in love with instead of being stuck with her because he'd got her pregnant. He probably didn't even want a kid; certainly not with her.

She knew she should leave Logan a note, but she had no idea what to say, so she didn't. She knew she had to go back into soldier mode for awhile. Forget everything that being with Logan had taught her about being human until she was somewhere safe.

In the end it was the hope of finding Jace that was the deciding factor. She wanted to be with someone like her.

She was about to go down and start south, when she heard someone else in the café. Who else could possibly be up here? It was pretty well secured to keep the local gangs out. You had to jump a 14 foot fence then one heck of a leap where they severed the stairs to make it this far. She turned to face the handsome young man behind her.

"Maxie?" he asked.

Max's face lit up with joy as she though she recognized the same smiling face that used to make up stories to comfort her when they were just children. "Ben?"

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

∞∞∞∞

**Working Title: Apprentice of Evil.**

∞∞∞∞

**Part Eight: Bad**

Logan sat alone, a solitary figure fighting an endless war with all that was wrong with the world. He typed furiously at his computers, but they brought no answers, no peace of mind. He had tried to get Max to come over here so he could break it to her in person that a transgenic had been killed. He didn't know if he was one of the ones that escaped with her. He didn't even know if she'd know if he was one of the escapees. By the age, he was probably an X5, but Logan didn't have any way of knowing for sure. Max wouldn't come. She must have known that _something_ was wrong, but what did she know? Was it enough to protect herself from whatever killed the other X5? He should have just told her. He should have told her a lot of things. Damn it, he was afraid it was too late.

Lydecker had swooped in and closed down the investigation. Not surprising.

Beverly checked with medical examiners in other cities. Lydecker had done the same thing before. Two died in Chicago, four in Miami, three in New York. Were they X5s that remained behind, dying on missions? Or had he found a way to track down the escaped X5s? If they were the ones that escaped, then ten of them were already dead. Brin was back at Manticore. Could Max really be the only one left? If so, for how long? He should have told her.

He jumped when the phone rang. Beverly Shankar's call was not reassuring. His heart clenched in his chest when she said they'd found another body. Logan felt a little guilty being happy when Beverly said that **_he _**had a barcode, but it only lasted a few seconds. It was the same barcode, on all eleven bodies.

Logan set down the phone and put his head in his hands. Max, where are you? What is going on?

∞∞∞∞

"Maxie?" The handsome young man asked.

Max's face lit up as she recognized him. "Ben?"

Ben nodded and smiled. "Max, we thought we'd lost you. That you drowned under the ice. I'm so glad you made it."

"I made it, but I don't know where any of the others are."

"Me neither. I haven't heard from Zack in a while. The old contact number isn't working and I don't have the new one. I didn't think I'd pissed off Zack that much but …" Ben trails off as he notices that Max has been crying. "Maxie, what's wrong?"

"I'm 'in trouble'." Max gestured to her slightly swollen abdomen.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yep."

Ben smiled. "Wow!" then he chuckled softly. "When I find family I go all out!" His smile died on his face as he noticed the expression on Max's pretty face. "I take it that the father didn't react well."

"I… haven't told him."

"Your call …but… why not? I am sure we could fake the doctor's visits. He doesn't need to find out that there is anything …not normal about either of you."

Max smiled. Funny, his casual use of the word 'we' warmed her heart. Apparently Zack's attitude wasn't prevalent among all of her siblings. She did have family, after all. "That's not it. He knows I'm an X5, it's just… we aren't like that."

Ben just looked at her with one of his eyebrows up.

Max laughed at herself. "OK, we were like that **once**, but …"

As her laughter dissolved into tears Ben could take no more. "It's OK. I'm here. I'll help. You're not alone."

"Someone like me." Max smiled and embraced her brother.

"Yeah, we are the same." Ben smiled as he held Max. Ben was happy to see his sister; happy about the prospect of having a little one to teach. He was even happy at the thought of snapping the neck of the SOB that had made his sister cry.

∞∞∞∞∞

To be continued …


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

* * *

**Part Nine: Worse**

"It's almost dawn. We should probably get moving. Have you been in Seattle long?" Ben asked.

"A couple of years, but …I need to leave." Max said.

"OK. I guess _we_ have to go. I thought I saw military activity. I guess that explains how they found me so fast." Ben just smiled at Max and she hugged him.

"I don't know where any of the others are, but I was thinking heading down to Mexico. Jace got out a couple of months ago; she's pregnant too."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"Good grief. Where is _that_ father?"

"Stuck back at Manticore. He was, or is, a lab tech there. So, as I was saying, Jace went down to Mexico. I was thinking of hooking up with her."

"She's down there alone."

"Pretty much."

Ben let out a deep sigh and shook his head as he held the door to the stairway open for Max. "So you're going to go mooch baby clothes?" he asked with smirk.

Max rolled her eyes and tapped him playfully on the shoulder. "There's strength in numbers. Zack never should have split us up. How's your Spanish?"

"I'll learn," Ben stated simply. He helped his sister down the space needle, uncertain how the baby would handle the impact. His love and concern were evident in his over protectiveness. For the first time in a long time, Max felt like everything might be aiight after all.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Logan knew that Lydecker was in town, in force. He knew Max hadn't returned his pages in days. He knew that there were a dozen corpses with barcodes that Lydecker had taken and they were not X5s. He knew Max had quit her job at Jam Pony. She packed enough of her personal belongings, from the apartment she shared with Original Cindy, that Logan didn't think she was ever coming back. He thought that meant Max left of her own free will, which meant that she was ok, right? He should have told her.

Every informant that Logan trusted implicitly knew he was looking for Max, that she was in danger and Logan was trying desperately go get in contact with her. When it came right down to it, that was a relatively small group of people that he really trusted, and he wasn't sure any of them would really hold up against the kind of pressure Lydecker could dispense. It would only take one slip to lead Lydecker right to his doorstep. Still, he had to at least try. It wouldn't be the first time he did his best and failed anyway. He hoped that it wouldn't be the last.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

They left the car that Ben had stolen at the space needle and took Max's Ninja to the counterfeiter's crib. Scott had been with Logan since before Eyes Only got started, and he had never seen him so rattled about anything. Whatever going down was bad and whatever Logan was spewing about Max being 'just business' was BS. This was personal. It may be in the best interest of the Eyes Only Informant Net to keep Max safe, and from what he had seen of her …accomplishments that was most definitely the case, but that was not why Logan was so anxious. This didn't mean Scott wasn't willing to help; he owed Logan Cale way more than that.

"Hey, Scott," said Max as she entered his 'office'.

"Max! You are alive. Logan is pulling his hair out!" Scott greeted her, wondering who the tall blond behind her was.

"I was afraid of that. Unfortunately, I have to bail on you guys. Seattle is too hot for me right now."

Scott nodded, he wasn't surprised. "That big, black something catching up with you?"

Max just nodded, tears glistening unshed in her eyes. "Logan knew it was only a matter of time. I don't suppose you have a set of tickets out of here just laying around, do you?"

"I do. For one or two?"

"Two. This is my brother. We both… need to go."

Scott looked at Ben skeptically. "On your mother's side or your father's?"

Ben actually laughed. "Probably not, but we didn't know any better when we were little and it's kind of stuck," he said.

Scott let the 'probably' slide. He was an intelligent man, some things a person just did not want to know. Scott starts sifting through papers in the file cabinet. He holds up one set of papers. "I just happen to have several options available right now. For her, I have a 'Jessica'?"

Max made a face.

Scott held up another set of papers. "Asha?"

"Yuck. Got _anything _else?" she asked.

"Marie …"

"Cool!"

"Mrs. Marie Jonsen and her husband Alex Jonsen. Reporters for the Republic, a small independent newspaper based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. These papers will get you just about anywhere."

"He's my brother," Max protested.

"You know that; I know that; but Max, let's face it, we don't **look** like we are related. And we don't want to be explaining. This will give us the perfect excuse to stay together." When Max just glared at him he continued, "It's not like this is going to be forever. I'm sure once we find Jace we will pick up some new id's."

Scott said, "Those are the three options I have for a female right now."

"Fine, we'll take them. How much do I owe you?" Max said.

"Actually, what I really need right now is for you to get this chip to Logan right away." Scott, brilliant man that he was, held up a small, blank microchip in a clear plastic case and offered it to Max. "I don't know where Logan's apartment is. I don't know anyone else that does. Let him know that too when you drop this off. …please?"

"I've got cash," Max offered.

"Me, too. Just rolling in it these days." Scott smiled.

"No problem," Ben, or Alex, said as he took the chip. "Anything else?"

"Nope, thanks." Scott watched them leave, hoping everything was going to be OK.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Twenty five minutes later Max and Ben pulled into the parking garage. Max turned off the Ninja and just sat there.

"What apartment is he in?" Ben asked.

"I should take it up.…I can't," Max looked so sad.

"No problem. I'll drop it off and be right back."

"I should let him know I'm leaving. But I don't want him to see me like this. I feel so guilty running out on him."

"He's a grown up, right?"

"Yes, but …"

"No, buts. He can look after himself. You, WE, need to look after the little one," Ben gestures pointedly to Max's abdomen. Max nods. "I'll be right back. Which apartment?"

"The penthouse."

"He can definitely afford to take care of himself. Be right back." Ben walked to the elevator, looking forward to dealing with this 'Logan'.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

To Be Continued …


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along.

* * *

**Part Ten: Sunset**

Marie and Alex Jonsen caught the first train out of Seattle heading south. The Ninja was stashed in the luggage car. Train tickets were cheaper than gas; not that money was an issue right now, but the train would also allow them to rest.

Max sat at the window of the train, staring out at the sunset. She envied the people who could just see the beautiful reds. To her it looked like a wound, draining the day that was dying into night. The day was done for, fading like an anemic body exhausting the last drops of blood and light.

So was her time in Seattle, with Logan. Days of Chess and fine dinners and pre-pulse Nuits-St. George and pretending to be just a regular girl, were over. Night was coming, and all that would be left to her of the days in the sun were memories. She didn't even have a picture of Logan.

The telephone poles dashing past the window reminded Max of sheep jumping a fence. Racing yet going nowhere. Expending energy, nevertheless accomplishing nothing. She knew why people counted sheep to go to sleep. She had spent her entire life running, and yet she was still here. The mere thought was exhausting. That wasn't what she wanted for her child, but how could she make it better? At least her child wouldn't be alone, she thought. She rested her head back against the pillow not wanting to move, now or ever again.

She shut her eyes, and drifted off to sleep, trusting the man next to her to keep her, and her child, safe from harm. "The telephone poles … like sheep," she murmured softly as she drifted off to sleep.

"Yeah, they are," replied Ben. Funny, he had been thinking the exact same thing. The telephone poles reminded him of the sheep puttering about all around them. Human sheep; they looked like they were moving, but in reality they were going nowhere and accomplishing nothing. Just milling about in their pathetic little lives, completely oblivious to the predators among them or danger they were in.

Ben smiled down at Max, sleeping peacefully. He contemplated brushing her hair out of her face, but decided it was too soon. They were together. They were the same. Both of them were wolves in sheep's costumes; dangerous predators among easy prey.

Max slept until another dangerous predator approached.

* * *

_To Be Continued …_


	8. Chapter 8

**Part Eleven: Tinga**

Sketchy staggered out of Crash close to midnight, and threw up alone in an alley. He got a good look at the thugs that mugged him. Some crazy dude even got pictures. Too bad neither of them knew anyone in the city that cared. Sketchy would have been complaining about that all day at Jam Pony, except that shortly afternoon they found out that Herbal's friend Snuffy had been killed. Another dead ex-con shot down with no leads, no witnesses, and no one to avenge them.

It was a subdued, mournful night at Crash. Muggers were running unhindered through the streets. The economy was still in a depression. Many of the patrons knew one of the murdered ex-cons. Sadly, no one knew more than one of the victims and no one made the connection. Of course even if they had, who there had the courage or self-confidence to do anything about it?

At the higher levels of the city it was also a quiet night. The bureaucrats breathed a sigh of relief as they watched their television programs uninterrupted. If no one was in their face demanding they right some wrong or avenge some downtrodden, then everything must be alright, or close enough they didn't have to bother with it.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Meanwhile, 200 miles away on a train just entering Oregon, a triad of genetically enhanced killing machines converge.

"Ben?"

Max was awake instantly. The voice was familiar, but she still came awake with a start and took a moment to get her bearings. She looked around and found familiar faces. Ben was sitting between her and the aisle holding a one finger up in a universal gesture of "shh" which was far too late.

"Tinga?" Max asked.

"Hey, little sister. What are you doing here?" Tinga asked.

Max stood up and embraced her sister. Ben stood up, got a hug and gave Tinga his seat.

"We were headed down to Mexico," Ben offered. "Where are you going?"

"Back to Portland." Tinga looked down at her hands; her brow was knitted in concern.

"What's up?" Max asked.

Tinga looked around then shook her head. "Long story," was all she said.

"You know, I hear that Portland is the place for tea. You've been there before. Think you could point out a nice spot?" Ben replied casually.

"Sure," Tinga played along.

"Excellent. We'll treat you to dinner, write a review of the place and write the whole thing off as a business expense!" Ben smiled and subtly showed Tinga his new ID and press pass.

"Thank you, Alex," Tinga acknowledged.

Max reluctantly showed Tinga her badge as well. As expected, Tinga raised an eyebrow at the name. The last name would require explanation, but not in public. The sign language that they learned as children was extensive, but they just didn't have words in it for some of the things they needed to explain. The exact same things they hadn't known words for when they first escaped; words like pregnant, desperation, love, family, sorrow, son and husband. Now that they were together they probably should pick up an American Sign Language dictionary and add all that to their vocabulary. It shouldn't take much time, they were after all, genetically enhanced.

The train pulled into the station. Four X5s disembarked in Portland. Three of them sought out a quiet corner for tea and explanations. Max discreetly dropped a letter in the mail slot and followed Tinga to a dark café in a bad part of town.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Tux was named after the penguin, not the outfit. It was a smallish, dark restaurant in downtown Portland. Most of the 'patrons', if they could be called that, were the homeless trying to see how much time out of the rain that they could buy for the price of a cup of coffee. Tinga chose the place because they were too absorbed in their own misery to care about anyone else. Ben liked it because these were the type of people that no one would miss if they had to kill a few of them. Max was too concerned about whatever it was that was obviously bothering Tinga to care. They took the corner booth near the emergency exit.

A grungy waiter came over quickly, presumably to verify that they really were going to order something. X5 appetites and constitutions being what they are they each quickly ordered a dinner hoping the waiter would leave just as quickly. He did.

"You first," Max began.

Tinga glanced around then began her explanation in hushed tones. "Charlie, my husband, put out a missing poster on me. I've got to get him and Case out of here before Lydecker notices."

"Case?" asked Max.

"My son," Tinga whispered. Max sat speechless for a moment.

"I'd have given a lot to see Zach's face when he found out about that," said Ben.

"Funny, I'd have given a great deal to not have been there. So, what's the deal with you two?" Tinga asked.

"It was the IDs that we could get to get out of Seattle quickly. Lydecker knew I was there, and he had apparently given up trying to be subtle." Max explained.

"So, why did you stay in Seattle so long?" Tinga asked.

Max sighed and looked down at her hands. "Logan."

Tinga felt sympathy for her little sister, she was obviously in mourning. "The guy that drove the car?"

Max nodded.

"So, what happened?" Tinga asked. Ben just quietly waited for information,

"Longer story. Not relevant to the current situation. What are we going to need to do to get Charlie and Case out of here?"

"One relevant fact. You need to be careful," Ben added.

Tinga looked at Ben questioningly. Ben glanced meaningfully at Max's stomach. Tinga's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Max nodded in confirmation.

"Logan's?" Tinga asked. When Max nodded she continued. "I guess he didn't take it well."

"I didn't tell him."

"Wait a minute. The guy in the wheelchair?" Ben asked, obviously surprised.

"Yeah, so?" Max looked at Ben.

"Damn!" swore Ben, alarming Max.

"Ben, what did you do to Logan?" Max demanded.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Admit it, you thought the chapter was going to end here.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Nothing. Like I said, he never saw me. I left the disk on his keyboard. It's just … in a wheelchair. I thought you said he was shot a year ago?"

"Almost a year ago," Max confirmed.

"I figured he couldn't have been the father."

"Couldn't be anyone else," Max replied rather irritated. She didn't want to be discussing this, but she sensed somehow that there was something here, about Ben, that she should know. "Why?"

"If I had known that he was the SOB that made you cry I'd have taught him a lesson. That's all. Maybe next time we go through Seattle," Ben replied calmly.

"You will not!" Max hissed. "He didn't make me cry. … He made me happier than I had ever been. I just …didn't want to leave him. But, he's not into playing it safe, and that won't do for the little one. But that's many months off. Right now, we need to concentrate on Tinga's child and mate. Not mine!" The waiter approaching with their order gave Max the last word.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Inside a lofty penthouse in the very best part of Seattle, Logan Cale sat and stared out the window. He found the blank disk. He wasn't surprised that Max was able to get in and out without seeing him. She didn't even want to talk to him anymore. Had he really screwed things up so badly she couldn't stand to look at him? Considering that he could barely stand to look at most of him these days, he wasn't surprised at that part.

He had thanked Scott for his efforts. He knew who the blonde brother that didn't look like a brother, or look at Max like a brother, was. Zack. With Lydecker crawling all over the city, and bodies with barcodes showing up all over the place, Logan could hardly blame Zack for wanting to get Max out of Seattle. It was what was best for Max, he was sure.

Still, he missed her. It was so lonely here without her. The thought that she wouldn't be dropping by for food and conversation anymore was overwhelming. He still had some hope of walking again, thanks to Dr Sam Carr, but any hope of making it up to Max left with her. He would never know her touch again. Never have a chance to try and win her love for real. Funny how he had thought that walking meant more to him than anything; until he lost someone he hadn't even realized he had taken for granted until she was gone.

He wondered how long it would be before she and Zack …Logan couldn't even finish the thought. He stifled a sob and sat in the dark wrestling his darkest demons and knowing that this time Max wasn't going to come and hold him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

To be continued ...


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Same as always. Yadda yadda.**

**Part Twelve: Portland**

"Portland seems like a nice place," Ben said aloud, for the benefit of the couple in the booth next to the X5s.

"It is," Tinga replied as they made small talk while they finished their meal. "The pulse didn't affect here quite as badly as it did other places."

"Why not?" Max asked, playing along to look inconspicuous.

"One of the major reasons for the economic breakdown after the pulse is that the infrastructure collapsed. Everyone was too dependent on the connections that globalization had created. When that went away, they didn't know what to do. Most places that translated into doing nothing, which quickly deteriorated into stagnation and shortages."

"How was that different here?" Ben asked.

"Basically they're a bunch of nuts," Tinga mumbled as she tried to eat her own dinner while maintaining a cover conversation that Ben and Max were obviously expecting her to carry. "When the existing infrastructure ceased to exist in one electromagnetic flash, the fringe groups jumped at the chance to rebuild the world in their own image. Once cable went out, it seemed like people didn't have anything better to do. Don't misunderstand, the freaks where already here, but I don't think they were the majority until after the pulse."

"Oh, yes we were!" piped up the older man from the other table. His female companion just rolled her eyes and sipped at her coffee.

"Really? I didn't move here until after. Tell me about it," Tinga prompted and began eating dinner as quickly as she could.

"After the pulse, everything went down. There was a clean slate!" the very strange little man said.

"I bet they knew that part," the woman they suspected was also strange said.

"Ok. Initially, PLUG and PDXLUG were rivals! They competed with each other to see who could mobilize the most geeks, or cyberspace warriors as we called ourselves back then; who could restore the most computers, networks and hotspots! Three days after the pulse the free hotspot in pioneer court house was back up and running!" The old man was clearly thrilled to have a fresh audience to hear the stories of his glory days.

Tinga was happy to be able to eat. Ben was amused and happy to be able gather some local information. Max was happy to provide an audience so that the older man could relive happier times. The man looked at the three happy, young faces before him and just beamed. His female companions smiled and gestured to the waiter.

"After that was back you finally got some sleep," she supplied.

"For a little bit. There was a lot more work to do. Those were some exciting days. We were mainlining caffeine, sugar, Ephedra, Provigil." He stopped to chuckle. "Amazing we didn't just keel over."

"We were young. Thought we could fix the world. Amazing how much energy that can give you; what you are willing to endure for that." she said.

Max nodded knowingly. The waiter approached the table next to the X5s.

"Owen is off on one of his stories. We're going to need more beer," she said. "How about three Bear Bears?" she asked with a smile.

"No, thank you" Max replied.

"Bear Beer?" Ben had to ask.

"Bear Beer!" Owen confirmed, nearly giddy to have another story to tell. "After we restored all the computers and networks in the city with one version of Linux or another, well we had expected everyone else to be back up and running too. Only, obviously, they weren't."

While Owen was off and running (at the mouth) the server confirmed that they would only need to beers, Max adamantly shaking her head no. The server nodded, smiled and walked off.

"A lot of us accepted very lucrative job offers from other cities that were just trying to get back on their feet, some people took job offers in other countries that were trying to swoop in and raid our supply of knowledge workers." His tone clearly conveyed what he thought of both the other countries and the people that chose to go there.

"A lot of us just sat around wondering what was wrong. We had fixed our part, why wasn't the whole working," his companion supplied.

"So then the nuts started crawling out of the woodwork," he said.

"It's not like they were exactly hiding before. They just weren't getting that much attention before the pulse," she said.

"They took credit for our work. They said that Portland was restored because of the divine will of the King or we were touched by his noodley appendage…" he said.

"Well, the Pastafarians weren't serious …" she said.

"But people took them seriously! That was the problem," he said.

"That's a known issue with all both satire and religion. They really should have known," she said.

"That's not the point …" he said.

"Here are your beers," the server rushed in, set two tall black bottles on the table and rushed off.

"Bear beer?" Ben said as he looked at the bottle and read the label.

"Oh, yes. Well after we fixed the computers; the 24-hour church of Elvis and the church of the flying spaghetti monster spread the word of … whatever," he said.

"The TAX EXEMPT word of whoever," she corrected.

"Oh, yes, now I remember the point of all that. Or so we intelligent people like to think. And fortunately the buy organic, shop locally fringe had also thrown themselves into their vision of making the world a better place. We still had food shortages here, but it wasn't so bad. Nobody was rioting," he said.

"We ate a lot of Idaho potatoes that year. The national infrastructure had broken down; goods were not being transported from where they were to where they needed to go. Fortunately for us, Idaho is a day trip. Well, with as much Provigil as they had passed out to the geeks, it was less than 24-hours to go to Idaho, fill a truck with potatoes and then drive back with enough food for everyone you knew for month. Even after the currency started threatening to break down we could take a case of beer and fill up a truck," she said.

"Portland had 33 independent breweries, and a few wineries. I think that more than anything else kept the average citizen …content. Plus beer has a ton of calories. After we realized that national economy was turning into a giant sinkhole we took action. We declared ourselves the beer capital of the world, which was perfectly justifiable; we'd had more breweries than Cologne Germany for awhile. That brought in some tourists. Tour companies started offering guided tours of the city and countryside. See the world's largest park! See the world's smallest park! See the Spruce Goose! Rose gardens, Japanese gardens, Chinese gardens, English gardens!" He sighed and took a drink from his beer.

"It was working; until the federal government decided that the tourists would be a good source of tax revenue," his companion supplied in the silence.

"Despite the best efforts of the lunatic fringe to get everything tax exempt, the federal government managed to tax our local efforts to death. So we just got drunk. We grew hops locally. Gathered local ingredients to create craft beers. And called it a sacrament of somebody so the federal government wouldn't tax the hell out of it. The first version of Bear Beer was pretty weak; I remember gathering ingredients in Forest Park, which is almost six times as large as Central Park and at over 5,000 acres, the largest park inside city limits in the world! Uber-geek to hunter gatherer." Owen sadly shook his head.

"We hate to eat and run," Tinga said as she stood up.

"It's OK. I understand," she said. "Welcome to Portland. You can go right up the street to Powell's, which is **still** the world's largest independent bookstore and get some free maps. They have a map of the bookstores themselves, which you need. The main store is five stories high and an entire city block. They also have a walking map of Portland, which should be all you need to get around. The ugly yellow bikes you see around are community bikes, feel free to borrow them, just leave them on the street somewhere when you are done." Owen shook their hands as they got up and left.

Ben walked to the counter and removed his wallet. "Hey. How much?" Ben asked.

"Ms White got it. If you wanted to leave a tip though, that would be fine," the waiter smiled at him from behind the counter.

"Ms. White?" Ben asked.

The server gestured back to the table where Max was shaking hands with the older couple, nodding and trying to politely excuse herself. Ben gave the waiter a ten dollar bill and walked back to Max.

"You're Ms. White?" he asked the woman.

"Yes. Pleased to meet you. Owen loves to have someone to tell his stories too." She smiled and offered her hand.

"Are you Mr. White?" Ben asked.

"No. She declined to take my name, but thanks for reinforcing the belief that a wife should! I'm Owen O'Reilly, as in the O'Reilly Open Source Conference, which has been in Portland since before the Pulse," he replied.

"I chose White. I'm keeping it," she replied as she waved goodbye to Ben and Max. Tinga was already waiting by the door.

"Only because you didn't want to be associated with your father," Owen retorted.

Max and Ben walked quickly to the door.

"Goodbye! May the Flying Spaghetti Monster be with you!" said the waiter as the left.

"Ramen!" shouted everyone in the café, followed by some soft laughter.

"Ramen?" said Max as waived back at the nice older couple.

The three X5's walked in silence for a few blocks before Max had to ask. "Tinga, is everyone in Portland insane?"

"No," Tinga replied. "Just many."

"That wasn't a bad thing. They bought our meal and a beer. For complete strangers," Ben said.

"You would have to go quite a way to be stranger than them," Tinga replied.

"We're chimeras. I think we can manage," Max quipped. Ben laughed.

"Oh, yeah," Tinga said.

"You've forgotten what you are," Ben said.

"Yeah, I had. But not anymore," Tinga replied grimly as she led them down the city streets. They walked in silence for a few blocks.

"Still, nice people. That was the nicest thing anyone ever did for me," Ben commented. Max looked at him sympathetically. Zack had obviously not allowed him to settle anyplace long enough to make friends.

"Portland has some really nice people, and some real nuts. They are very used to tolerating differences. Easy to be …a little quirky," Tinga said. "We are going to Powell's. They have some good maps, quiet places to talk."

"Maybe a book on sign language," Max said.

"Or a baby book?" Ben suggested.

"Or a veterinary reference. Think they'll have one on chimera's?" Max snapped.

"We aren't that different," Tinga said.

"Are you sure?" Max said.

"Pretty much. The midwife I used didn't notice anything odd. I was afraid to go to an actual doctor, just in case, but everything went fine."

"Best news I've heard all day," Max smiled.

To be continued ….


End file.
